U.S. court blocks ‘de facto moratorium’ on federal solar permitting

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">A U.S. federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against a Department of the Interior policy that required Trump-appointed Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum’s approval for all renewable energy projects on public lands, effectively stalling tens of gigawatts of capacity.</span></p><p><strong>From <a href="https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/04/22/court-blocks-de-facto-moratorium-on-federal-solar-permitting/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">pv magazine USA</a></strong></p>
<p><span class="citation-40 citation-end-40">A U.S. federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against a Department of the Interior policy that required <a href="https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/07/18/renewable-energy-permits-now-face-final-review-from-trump-appointed-interior-head/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">secretarial-level approval</a> for all renewable energy projects on public lands, effectively stalling tens of gigawatts of capacity.</span></p>
<p>The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts moved to halt the <a href="https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/11/07/seia-political-attacks-threaten-half-of-all-planned-u-s-power-capacity/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">restrictive memorandum</a>, ruling that administrative hurdles placed on developers were likely “arbitrary and capricious.” Industry advocates argued the policy created a “de facto blockade” that threatened to derail utility-scale projects and undermine national decarbonization targets.</p>
<blockquote><p>This ruling is a win for affordable energy in America, a win for American consumers, and a win for workers. Energy costs are rising for Americans, and the only way to put downward pressure on prices is with more power, not less. Low-cost, quick-to-deploy solar and storage are key to meeting the Trump Administration’s goals of keeping costs down for Americans and bolstering our AI leadership on the world stage. This is a constructive step forward toward letting America’s solar and storage industry build and deliver more American energy to households and businesses nationwide. Solar Energy Industries Association president and chief executive officer Darren Van’t Hof</p></blockquote>
<p>The administrative bottleneck had put an estimated 57 GW of clean energy at risk, complicating efforts to streamline grid access for large-scale developments. This judicial intervention comes as the industry remains hyper-focused on permitting reform to address the massive backlog in interconnection queues.</p>
<p>While federal agencies continue to allocate funding for manufacturing and infrastructure, the legal friction over federal land use highlights the challenges of deploying energy storage and solar at the pace required by climate goals.</p>